How to Rewrite Your Resolutions During the Year
January 1st is Arbitrary… It’s okay to declare a restart if you need to
The idea of a new year is compelling… we jot down lists of things to conquer, experiences to have and ideas to experiment with. Then life changes. Whether that’s a big change like being transferred states or a small one like changing routines.
That change can be internal or external. Then again, there are also the periods of time where we yearn for a do over of the entire year. The bad news is, you can’t change what has already happened. The good news, you can change up the ending.
With five months behind us, now is a good time to start to rethink how we want our year to continue and end. With places beginning to open up again, after 2.5 months, it’s a good time to re-evaluate. What still rings true from the beginning of the year? How will we chart our way towards new goals that will end the year on a positive note.
For a hard reset on the year, I’d encourage (and I do) the following:
Think back to January
What ideas are worth keeping? Reconsult the ideas you had back then. Pull out the vision board or the list of resolutions. What still excites you?
The reasoning for this is simple: there are things on the board that do not get done. They might stay on the board for years, without us actually taking action to bring them to life.
This is an easy place to locate the ideas that have this tendency and to decide once and for all if they are worthwhile or if they can be removed.
Choose at least one project and vow to accomplish it by the end of the year. At the end, you’ll be proud that you stuck with it and finally got it done.
This project does not have to be massive but it should be something that you’ve been putting off for awhile. Make that one of your focuses for the rest of the year.
What Has Worked So Far and What Hasn’t
An important question for evaluating the year so far and how you want to shape the rest of it.
What routines, ideas, or experiences have you tried and still want to keep on doing? What has frustrated you or just seemed like you’re spinning your wheels and getting nowhere?
In looking at what has or has not worked so far, it’s time to look at what to continue and what to tweak or just let go altogether.
An important consideration: For every yes that you give there are things that you have to say no to.
Therefore, it is beneficial to decide what yes’s you really want to give and to be able to give them in a way that allows for best results.
Decide What Your Top 5 Are
When December 31st rolls around, what do you really want to say this year was about? What projects do you want to be able to recall accomplishing this year? What aspects of life do you want to say you lived your best life in?
I tend to think of the top 5 as projects or goals that I want to accomplish during the year, however the top 5 can encompass so much more.
It’s going to be important to really think through and narrow down ideas here. Consider: physical, emotional, spiritual health, family and friends, projects that you want to be apart of, and experiments you want to try.
By narrowing it down to five, you are defining what is most important and most worth your time.
Something to remember about this method: once you accomplish one goal or area, you can always add another goal. If one of your goals is to clean out the basement and you still have time, maybe consider doing another part of the house. You could also go a different direction and experiment with a creative or practical outlet.
It is perfectly okay to want to do less than 5. Even if you only choose one area to focus on, you will become more adept in that area by the end of the year. This one thing is what is really pulling at your heartstrings, and it’s perfectly okay to say by the end of the year that you had one area of your life that you really wanted to focus on and made it happen.
Make a Fun List
By now, you’ve most likely identified the top things that either need to get done or will take serious work to accomplish. Life is made up of hard work, but it’s also about choosing to take a break and have some fun along the way.
What are things that you want to do this year solely based on the fun aspect?
Going to a museum, revisiting a childhood landmark, or cooking dinner for the significant other may not be part of your top priorities or projects. However, in a well crafted set of resolutions, there should be a space for it.
When I craft my list of top 5, I always set down a bucket list for the year. Most often, it’s in the tradition of the x amount of things to do before x year. In this case, it would be “21 Things To Do Before 21”.
While I tend to focus the majority of time on the Top 5, these come in handy and provide many of the special memories I have during the year.
Conclusion
When deciding to reset resolutions for the year, there are a lot of ways to approach it. Do you have specific projects you want to get done? What is bothering you that has been on the list for a long time? What are the small things that don’t feel like they should be on the resolutions list but you want to try anyway?
Consider all of these angles and mix and match as you want. It’s perfectly okay to mix 1 thing from your January resolutions with 1–2 focus areas and 10 things you want to do by the end of the year. It’s also okay to choose just one method and follow through on it.
Remember that it doesn’t take a specific day to restart on goal planning. It can happen during any point in time and last as long as you want. Please don’t let a few bad months determine what you spend the rest of the year creating.
